LANDPATHS researchers Tuija Hilding-Rydevik and Johanna Tangnäs (both from the SLU Centre for Biological Diversity and the sub-project on agricultural landscapes) presented their article ‘Problem representations of farming and biodiversity in the Swedish implementation of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2023-2027’ at the annual conference of the Political Science Association in Sweden, October 2-4, Umeå.

Johanna Tangnäs discusses the LANDPATHS paper with researcher Elsa Reimersson, chair of the thematic session on environmental politics

About 150 researchers participated in the conference with the aim of presenting and receiving feedback on both finished and early drafts of research articles and doctoral theses. The participants were primarily political scientists, and everyone followed a particular thematic session over the three days, with presentations followed by ample time for designated reviewers to present their questions and suggestions for improvements. Everything was done in a collegial and constructive spirit.

A discussion in the environmental politics thematic session

The LANDPATHS paper presented during the thematic session on environmental politics analyses Sweden’s strategic plan, which implements the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy in Sweden. The plan encompasses contributions and payments to Swedish farmers, totalling over 60 billion kronor. The analysis employs a theoretical framework that facilitates understanding how problems in a policy are realised. By this we mean that it is the proposals for action (in our case, the proposals for contributions and payments) that are seen as the problem definition, not what is stated to be the problem.

With this foundation, conclusions can then be drawn about the effects this has on:

  • how we talk about a political problem (which influences which solutions we see as possible;
  • the positions of different actors that are enabled (e.g., the role assigned to farmers); and
  • what the practical consequences are for efforts related to multifunctionality and biodiversity in the agricultural landscape.

Our preliminary conclusion is that we observe, as in previous research, that there are challenges in how farmers and their perspectives and circumstances are described and handled within the framework of the EU’s agricultural policy, in relation to both production and biodiversity.

The conference took place in the Humanities building at Umeå university

For more information, contact Tuija Hilding-Rydevik, leader of the agricultural landscapes sub-project.